I have been hard at work on the Creative Wall and now have all 3 frames completed. The only thing I need to add is the crowning touch to the wall. I will show you that next week.

This 3rd frame on the Creative Wall is my mini photo studio. As a DIY blogger I need to take lots of photos and needed a handy place to quickly take the step-by-step project shots that has a plain background and lots of light. When my worktable was in the middle of the room and I took photos of projects I made, there was always a distracting background. Having the worktable against the wall solves this.

The magic of this mini photo studio is the addition of a white roller shade to the top of frame.When I want to take a project shot, all I have to do is roll down the shade – voila a mini photo studio.

When the area is not being used to take photos, I can roll up the shade and use the frame as a pretty place to pin inspiration and memos.

When spray painting small items like brackets, nail heads, etc. Attach them to a piece of Styrofoam for easy spray painting. I used the nails the brackets came with to attach them to the foam. They stay in place making it easy to paint all sides without anything falling over and making a mess.

2. Measure the width of your frame to determine what length roller shade you will need. I figured out that I needed to place the shade brackets on the flat part of the frame – and then measured side to side. Make sure when you go to get the shade cut that you tell the person cutting it that it will be on an “outside mount” as well as how wide you want the actual shade to be. They will figure out the rest.

My helper – Trax is sick and is at the Vet for two nights. Urinary tract infection. Even though he is always in my way – I miss him.

3. Two small nails come with each bracket. I used them to attach the brackets to each side of the frame. One side of the shade has a pointed end that goes into the bracket with the hole. The other end has a flat protrusion (see below) that goes into the slot bracket.

4. I added a saw tooth hanger to the back of the frame to hang and four picture hanging strips. These are needed so that when you roll the shade down, the frame stays in place. If you have read the other posts about this wall, you know that I designed the wall so that it could be portable, so I can easily take it down if we have to move and I can use it in another house. If I knew we were staying in this house, I would have drilled holes into each corner and used mounting screws to hold each frame on the wall.

5. Once the frame was hung on the wall, I removed the label that kept the roller shade rolled up. I kept it on so the shade would not flap around while I worked on it.

The main reason I placed the photo-taking frame last on the wall is because it is closest to the window and gets plenty of light, especially in the late afternoon.

If I need more light or want to bounce a shadow away, I place a dollar store foam board parallel to the window. My IKEA light on the worktable holds it up.

Here is one of the photos I took.

Without the light bouncing board.

With the light bouncing foam board.

I don’t have a photo of this yet, but I can clip a yard of colorful fabric or paper to the shade to create interesting backdrops when needed.

Over the next few days, I will add the crown molding along the top of the frames and then the Creative Wall will be complete.

It has been less than a week since the wall has been up and I am happy to say that it is doing everything I designed it to do.

1. Functional: a place to – wrap gifts, make and create things, take photos where there is lots of light.

Hi, Diane. I’m new to your blog and found you via the post on Organize and Inspire. I’m a fellow DIY/craft blogger and I have to tell you your blog is just beautiful! Great photos and terrific projects. I love this mini studio and it is the EXACT thing I have been planning for my craft room makeover (for the 2nd time). Sadly, I don’t have the natural light you do but I’m using natural light bulbs so that will hopefully help. I’ve subscribed via email and look forward to perusing your site!

Thanks for taking the time to comment and subscribing. I follow you on G+. I have been to your blog and see you come up in social media all the time. Happy to connect with you. I use my mini photo studio on a daily basis. Now that we moved the clocks ahead one hour, I get one extra hour of great light in the room to take photos. I have found the best time is between 4 – 6 PM. Looking forward to staying in contact with you.

This is such a great idea! I could do this on a big scale. I need blank backgrounds for furniture and I am always searching for the best spot. Thank for the awesome idea! Visiting from Eclectically Vintage.

I saw your crafting space over at IHeart Organizing. Your whole Creative Wall set up is perfect and incorporates all the little details I’ve been mentally compiling for my ‘ideal workspace’. And I’m excited to see that the storage is two reclaimed dressers … I have two ugly dressers! I can do that! :D The best part is the Mini Photo Studio. I had been thinking of making a Roman Shade of fabric to do something similar, but the fabric gets wrinkly. Using a regular roller shade is such a clean, functional solution!
PS: checked out some other posts and have added your blog to my reader!
Thanks!!

Diane, this is so brilliant. Now I am racking my brain to see where I can install a message board/photo studio near a window in my own house! Such a creative use of space and I love how pretty AND functional this entire craft room turned out!

Hi Simone – Thanks so much for the comment :) I truly appreciate it. I try to keep things fresh and truly in my own style on my blog. Since the wall has been up I am working so efficiently :) This week I made a top for the 3 frames and will post about it soon.

Hi Designed Decor – Having natural light does make a huge difference and I wish I had more of it streaming into my house. I wish I could always take the photos I need when the light is perfect – (early morning/late afternoon in my house). At other times, it can be too much and I put a clear shower curtain over the window to cut down on shadows. Do you use any type of photo lighting tricks and white boards to bounce the light? That helps quite a bit.

Diane,
I went looking for you this morning to wish you a Happy Easter! I have missed you and think your creative mind has unbelievable vision. You amaze me making things happen for not a ton of money with beauty and function to boot!

Hi Lynne –
Thanks for the nice note XO I hope you had a wonderful Easter. It was a beautiful day her in Pa. I even got a sunburn :)

How do you read your favorite blogs? Through GFC? Since you have a g-mail account you can add all the blogs you read to Google Reader. It is free and easy to set up right in your Google profile. Once you add all of the blogs you like to read, you will get the newest posts sent right to it. This is how I keep up with all the blogs I enjoy. You could also subscribe by e-mail – although this isn’t the perfect way though as sometimes your email will think a post is junk if it has a link or two in it and will send it to your spam folder.

I am not sure why some WP blogs still have working GFC widgets. On March 1st just like Google stated my widget went away. I kept the empty box and code in my sidebar for a few days to see if it would magically reappear, but it didn’t. I added the G+ widget in it place, but it is not the same thing :(

Hi Amy – thanks XO. You are so cute!!! Next week I am going to try to get a post up with the finishing touches and a few more tips on taking photos that I haven’t implemented myself yet. I am trying to learn and do as much as I can so I can get great photos all the time, not just sometimes.

The roller shade is so clever. I am not sure where I can put one in my house, but I really could use this for taking pictures for my blog! It is really windy where I live and I can’t always get outside to take pictures, so this is perfect!

I like to take my photos outside, too. Now that the summer months are upon us I can start doing that again. My outdoor shots always come out nice. Before I set this up I would use two foam boards.I would place the item being photographed on one and used the other on the back or side depending on the light. It worked well. I would always try to find the area with the best light to set it up. It took time and effort, but it helped me get better shots, especially the step by step photos.

You have the most beautiful office and house. I love everything you do
to fix it your way. I decided a while back at first reading your blogs, that your way was exactly like what I want my tiny house to be in a mini me sort of way.

I am so sad to hear of Trax being sick. My Sugar (Maine Coon Boy) almost died from a Urinary Blockage back the first of June 2005. Vet was afraid even with the laser surgery he would not live… cost me back then over a $1000 to get him well again. That was over the course of a few months though. The initial cost was somewhere around $300. He was a sick boy. Now I feed him the dry food that says for urinary health care and give him a dose of vaseline every so often. That long fur and all gets clogged. Well, I sure hope Trax is good again soon.

Hi Rita – Thanks so much for the nice comment.I am trying to learn everything I can about photography so I can take good photos all the time, not just some of the time. I found this area gets very nice light, so I decided to improve upon it and make it into the mini photo studio. It is working out extremely well. The best part is that it is permanent and easy to set up, before I had to move everything around and that took time and always made a mess.
I hope you have a wonderful holiday weekend.

Awww!!! I hope Trax feels better. The roll down shade is such a great idea for photos. I’ll have to show my husband that idea cause he takes photos all the time for stuff since he’s a graphic designer and I could use it to sell stuff on eBAY and Etsy. Thanks for sharing!

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I love all things creative, colorful, and DIY. It is just the way my brain is wired. I can’t add 2+2 to save my life, but I can help you decorate your home in a style that you will love…YOURS! Click to: Read More